


You're Not Alone in This

by AwkwardGayBean



Category: Keeper of the Lost Cities Series - Shannon Messenger
Genre: Alternate Timelines, Alternate Universe - Future, Current Events, Everyone Is Gay, F/F, Future Fic, M/M, Mainly Sophiana, Minor Detz, Minor Kam, Minor Linhella, Not Canon Compliant
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-20
Packaged: 2021-03-18 17:28:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,034
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29372358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardGayBean/pseuds/AwkwardGayBean
Summary: Sophie had been working as an emissary ever since she’d graduated from Foxfire the year before.  Recently, she’d been trying to work to find solutions to all the issues humans were causing.  The COVID-19 pandemic had been going on for eight months with almost no improvement.  Plus, bombings, plane crashes, police brutality, and riots.  Not to mention how the pures at Havenfield had been struggling to keep up with filtering the smoke from the fires in California this past summer.  Sophie was overwhelmed.  “Do you think we need to interfere?” she asked Biana.Set starting in November 2020.  Sequel to "Do What Makes You Happy".
Relationships: Dex Dizznee/Fitz Vacker, Keefe Sencen/Tam Song, Marella Redek/Linh Song, Sophie Foster/Biana Vacker
Comments: 11
Kudos: 23





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This exists now! I'll probably still be working on this on the anniversary of when I started writing "Do What Makes You Happy", and that seems really crazy. Anyway, I really hope you end up loving this concept as much as I do. Here goes nothing!

Sophie sat at her desk, hunched over a pile of paperwork. She was starting to get a headache. She looked at the clock. It was getting late. The door opened behind her. Sophie turned her head to see Biana standing in the doorway of the study in their shared home.

“How’s it going?” her girlfriend asked, walking up behind her, and wrapping her arms around Sophie’s shoulders.

“Stressful,” Sophie sighed, running a hand through her hair.

“What’s the matter now?” Biana asked.

“Still humans,” Sophie explained. Biana hummed in acknowledgement, kissing her on the cheek. Sophie had been working as an emissary ever since she’d graduated from Foxfire the year before. Recently, she’d been trying to work to find solutions to all the issues humans were causing. The COVID-19 pandemic had been going on for eight months with almost no improvement. Plus, bombings, plane crashes, police brutality, and riots. Not to mention how the pures at Havenfield had been struggling to keep up with filtering the smoke from the fires in California this past summer. Sophie was overwhelmed. “Do you think we need to interfere?” she asked Biana.

“I don’t know,” Biana said.

“I’m concerned about Fitz,” she said. Fitz had been taking emissary assignments in the forbidden cities for several months to try and gather information. Dex and Tinker had engineered him a special mask to ensure that he wouldn’t contract the virus, but she couldn’t help but worry.

“He can handle himself,” Biana assured her. “Why don’t you go talk to Keefe?”

“Maybe,” Sophie replied. Keefe had opened his own psychiatry practice after graduating from Foxfire. Sophie had gone to see him several times since he started, and he usually made her feel better. “I think I’ll go in the morning.” She stood up from her desk and stretched, turning to give Biana a kiss.

“Are you coming to bed?” Biana asked, looking into Sophie’s tired eyes. Sophie nodded. “You need to stop working so much. It’s not good for you.”

“You’re starting to sound like your Dad,” Sophie teased, poking the crease in Biana’s brow that had formed from concern.

“Don’t say that,” Biana groaned. But it was true, Sophie was sure that Alden had uttered those exact words to her at least once before. “You really do need time to relax.”

“I know,” Sophie sighed. “It’s just hard when there are so many things that need to be done.”

“I get it,” Biana sympathized. Then with a chuckle and a loving smile she added, “You’ve always been like this.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sophie asked.

“Always working too hard to get things done and worrying yourself sick,” Biana explained. “Sometimes literally.”

“That was  _ one time _ ,” Sophie argued.

“Hmmmm, twice,” Biana said. Sophie quickly recalled the night before they had finally defeated the Neverseen. She had been awake at nearly 5:30am and Biana had threatened to sedate her if she didn’t go to bed. The nausea that night had been  _ bad _ .

“Okay, twice,” Sophie conceded.

“Come on, you need sleep,” Biana took Sophie’s hand and guided her out of the study. She flicked off the light and they went to their bedroom. Sophie changed into pajamas and flopped unceremoniously onto the bed on her stomach. Biana smiled at her and crawled into bed beside her.

“Can we hail Fitz?” Sophie asked. Ever since Fitz had become an emissary and began taking assignments in the forbidden cities, his imparter had security measures installed that were similar to the ones the councillors had. Now, the only people who could hail him were the council, and his immediate family.

“We can, if you want,” Biana agreed. Sophie rolled onto her back and Biana kissed her forehead. Taking out her imparter, Biana said, “Show me Fitz.”

Soon enough, the older Vacker appeared on the screen. His teal eyes were framed with dark circles, and a red line from his tight mask was indented deep into the skin around his nose and mouth. He sat at the desk of a nice hotel room, and he wore a purple plaid button-down shirt. It was strange seeing Fitz wearing something so  _ human _ .

“Hey,” he said, with a tired smile.

“How’s the research going?” Sophie asked, cuddling into Biana’s shoulder.

“It’s...stressful,” Fitz sighed. “I’m assigned to stay near where there are big outbreaks, so right now I’m in Los Angeles. There are people rioting over some election?”

“Those would be Trump supporters,” Sophie groaned.

“None of them are following restrictions, and it’s just getting worse and worse,” he continued.

“Stop talking about stressful work stuff,” Biana said. “I just dragged Sophie away from that.”

“Oh, sorry,” Fitz said. “What are you guys doing tomorrow?”

“I have to interview potential new employees for the store,” Biana told him. Biana had gone into the fashion industry to create androgynous clothing for elves. She now owned a store in Atlantis, near Keefe’s office, where she sold her designs. Business had been picking up, so she was looking to recruit some extra help.

“I’m going to visit Keefe,” Sophie said. “Work has me way too stressed to deal with everything on my own,”

“Can you say hi for me?” Fitz asked.

“Of course,” Sophie agreed. She knew Fitz missed his best friend. It was hard enough that he was away from Dex and his family, but at least he could hail them.

“You both look like you’re ready to pass out,” Biana remarked, noting her exhausted brother and her sleepy girlfriend who was beginning to nod off on her shoulder.

“Yeah,” Fitz agreed. “I should probably get some sleep.”

“Goodnight,” Sophie said, stretching and lifting herself off Biana’s shoulder

“Goodnight,” Fitz replied, and Biana’s imparter clicked off.

“Why do you let yourself get this tired?” Biana asked.

“I don’t know,” Sophie told her.

“You’re cute,” Biana said, pulling the covers up over herself and Sophie. Sophie felt gentle circles being traced in her palm as her eyelids grew heavy. Biana relaxed her long enough to let all the stressful thoughts drift from her mind, and in a few moments, she drifted into sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Sophie reached for her pathfinder and held it up to the sunlight that shone through the window, leaping away. Immediately, she regretted leaping and not teleporting directly to Keefe’s office. The whirlpool that led to Atlantis still made Sophie nauseous even though she’d used it numerous times. Leaving herself no time to overthink the situation, she threw herself into the churning water and let herself get pulled down into the vortex. Once she got to the bottom, she caught a Eurypterid carriage, and headed to Keefe’s office. Now matter how many times Sophie visited the underwater city, she was mesmerized by its beauty. There was something special about the way the crystal buildings shone in the depths of the ocean.

The carriage slowed to a halt before the small, welcoming building that housed Keefe’s practice. She stepped out and walked up to the door. As she entered the lobby, Sophie looked around at the new knick knacks that were scattered about the room on shelves and tables. Keefe always made sure there was something new and interesting around so his clientele wouldn’t be bored or anxious while waiting for their appointments. There was nobody waiting when Sophie entered. She decided that today was a good day to visit. It didn’t appear that her friend was too busy. A familiar young elf emerged from the room behind the front desk. He gave Sophie a smile as she noticed him.

“Hi, Sophie,” he greeted her.

“Rex, hi!” she replied, with a grin, happy to see her best friend’s younger brother. Rex and his two siblings were in level 6 at Foxfire this year, but Keefe had hired him part-time as a receptionist to give the 17-year-old elf some work experience. “Is Keefe busy?”  
“No, his first appointment today doesn’t get here for a few hours,” Rex told her. “You can go on up.”

“Thanks!” Sophie said, as she took the glittering silver stairwell up to the second floor. She knocked softly at the door of Keefe’s office.

“Come in,” she heard him say.

“Hey,” she said, opening the door and peering into the office. Inside was just as welcoming as the lobby. Blue, plush furniture, and dark wooden shelves of books created a cozy atmosphere. Keefe sat at his desk, looking through paperwork, which he glanced up from when Sophie entered. He grinned.

“Sophie!” he exclaimed, getting up from his chair, and walking over to give her a hug. “What’s going on? Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just stressed with work, that’s all,” she told him, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek before retreating from his warm embrace and sitting down on the chair across from his desk.

“Yeah, I could feel it,” Keefe told her, with a sympathetic look. He sat back down at his desk. “What’s going on in  _ emissary-land? _ ” Sophie took a deep breath.

“Humans are basically destroying the world and it’s getting so bad we’re actually considering interfering,” she told him.

“That bad?” Keefe asked. “Is that why Fitzy’s been spending so much time in the forbidden cities?”

“Yeah,” Sophie said. “He says hi, by the way. Biana and I hailed him last night.” Keefe smiled.

“How is he?” he asked.

“Okay, I think,” she replied. “He looked exhausted, though. I’m really worried about him.”

“You know Fitz is an expert at handling stuff like this, right?” Keefe assured her.

“I know, I just love him, that’s all,” she sighed.

“I do too,” Keefe said. “But you have to trust that he can take care of himself.”

“I guess,” Sophie said.

“Let me tell you something,” Keefe said, leaning forward in his chair and meeting her gaze. His eyes shone with a heartfelt sincerity that was echoed in his words. “And you know I’m bad at opening up about stuff like this, so you know it’s genuine. The day Fitz left to go take his first assignment in the forbidden cities, I knew at least some of what was going on, and I panicked. A lot. I woke up in the middle of the night crying because I was so scared that I was going to lose my best friend to a virus, a fire, or to a gunshot in a riot. Tam had to comfort me until I calmed down. Fitz has been a constant in my life like nothing else, and I don’t know what I’d do if I ever lost him, but I have to trust him to keep himself safe, otherwise I’d go hysterical. I’m sure Biana feels the same way. And Dex certainly does. You’re not alone in this, Sophie. We all love him. You just have to trust him. As his cognate, you should be able to do that better than any of us.” Some of the tension in Sophie’s shoulders was released after that.

“Thanks,” she said.

“And as for your work stress, try giving yourself a regular schedule for when you start and finish working. Once you’re finished, let everything leave your mind and relax. And maybe take some extra time where you don’t have to think about any of it, for even just one day a week. Take a day to spend with Biana, or we could get a group together and hang out. Just take time for yourself.”

“That’s what Biana keeps telling me,” she admitted.

“She knows what she’s talking about,” Keefe said. “You should listen to her.”

“But everything that’s going on-” Sophie started.

“Is not all your responsibility,” Keefe finished. “There are other emissaries working on the same things. There are millions of humans working on the same things. This absolutely does not all depend on you.”

“Thanks Keefe,” Sophie told him. He was right. Maybe the whole Moonlark thing was going to her head and making her feel like she was responsible for solving more problems than she could actually manage. She got up to hug her friend again.

“I love you,” he said. His arms were warm and comforting, just like his words.

“I love you, too,” she replied.

“Don’t burn yourself out, okay?”

“I’ll try my best.”


End file.
